Hasselback Baked Potatoes

 Mark loved these. He said it was the best thing he's ever eaten. Needless to say, these will be made again! Recipe from here.

INGREDIENTS

4 medium Potatoes, cleaned & leave skins on
4 cloves of Garlic, sliced thin
3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
pinch of Salt
pinch of Black Pepper
pinch of Smoked Paprika
1 ounce shaved Parmesan Cheese (have some additional for sprinkling as a garnish)
sour cream for garnish

METHOD

Pre heat oven to 425˚F (220 C) with rack in the middle of the oven. Lay potatoes flat on cutting board and starting from one end of the potato, make slits about 3-4mm apart. Cut to about 1/4 inch from the base of the potato. Be careful not to slice all the way through. The potato will fan out a bit as it bakes.

Combine olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Carefully insert pinches of this mixture in between the slits of the potatoes. Rub the outsides of the potatoes with residual oil. Arrange potatoes on baking sheet and bake for about 40-45 minutes. The inside should be cooked through and the outside of the potato should be a bit crispy. Garnish with additional salt, smoked paprika, pepper, parmesan and sour cream.

Crispy Oven Chicken

This was good! The chicken was perfect! Next time I will make a few changes, reflected below in the recipe.  Original recipe found here.

Ingredients

• Mixed legs & thighs of chicken
• New potatoes
• Shallots or small onions
• Few sprigs of Thyme
• Rosemary 
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chicken Stock
• 1/2 cup white wine

For the Chicken Seasoning

• Garlic Powder (approx 2 tsp)
• Celery Salt (approx 2 tsp)
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Corn flour to coat the chicken

What you do:

• Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C
• Coat the chicken in the seasoning ingredients then add a light coating of corn flour. Dust off the excess.
• In a frying pan heat the olive oil and butter and fry the chicken until golden on both sides.
• Put the potatoes and onions to your baking dish and season with salt, pepper, and rosemary.
• Add the chicken on top (we leave the chicken sitting on the potatoes to remain crisp). Pour off some of the frying oil and butter on top of the chicken and potatoes.
• Place in a hot oven (200 degrees) for 10 minutes to crisp up
• Mix the stock and white wine and add to the oven dish (half cover the potatoes/chicken).
• Add fresh thyme (or rosemary) and place back into the oven.
• Reduce the heat to 180 degrees and allow to cook/reduce for about 30-35 minutes or until the chicken has cooked.
• To serve we removed the ingredients and mixed in a little cream into the remaining gravy, then poured over the chicken

Sherried Tomato Soup

MMMMmmm! This was great! It's from the Pioneer Woman.  We had it for lunch with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side.  And easy to make too!

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoons Melted Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
• 1 bottle (46 Oz.) Tomato Juice
• 2 cans (14 Oz. Cans) Diced Tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoon (up To 3 Tablespoons) Chicken Base
• 3 Tablespoons (up To 6 Tablespoons) Sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• Black Pepper To Taste
• 1 cup Cooking Sherry
• 1-½ cup Heavy Cream
• Chopped Fresh Parsley
• Chopped Fresh Basil

Preparation Instructions

Sauté diced onions in butter until translucent. Then add canned tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken base, sugar, pinch of salt, black pepper and stir. Bring to a near boil, then turn off heat. Add in sherry and cream and stir. Add in parsley and basil to taste.
Adjust other seasonings and serve with yummy, crusty bread on a cold blustery, dreary, depressing, rainy, snowy day. Then close your eyes.